| Buyei | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haausqyaix Giay (Yay) |
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| Spoken in | China (Guizhou, Yunnan, and Sichuan Provinces) Vietnam |
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| Ethnicity | Buyei, Giay | |||
| Native speakers | 2,650,000 (2000) | |||
| Language family | ||||
| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-3 | pcc | |||
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The Buyei language (autonym: Haausqyaix also spelled Buyi, Bouyei, Tujia or Puyi;[1] Chinese: 布依语; pinyin: bùyī yǔ, Vietnamese: tiếng người Bố Y), is a language spoken by the Bouyei ethnic group[2] of southern Guizhou Province in mainland China. Classified as a member of the Northern Tai group in the Tai languages branch of the Tai–Kadai language family, the language has over 2.5 million native speakers and is also used by the Giay people (Vietnamese: Giáy) in some parts of Vietnam. There are native speakers living in France or the United States as well, which immigrated from China or Vietnam. About 98% of the native speakers are in China.[1]
Bouyei's characteristics are similar to the other members of its language branch. It is generally monosyllabic, and word order and particles are the main forms of grammar. Bouyei's syllable initials match up closely to the other Northern Tai languages, with relatively fast simplification and merging. Bouyei sentences can be shown to contain many different levels of phrasing.
The contemporary Bouyei script was developed after the abandonment of the Bouyei-Zhuang Script Alliance Policy in 1981, and was designed from 1981 to 1985. It is focused and phonologically representative, and takes the Wangmo County dialect as its foundation.
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The Bouyei language as spoken in Guizhou can be divided into three general dialect groups:
The Bouyei script recognizes 32 consonants, with names formed by the consonant in an initial position followed by a long "a" vowel.
| Labials | b [p] | p [pʰ] | mb [ɓ] | m [m] | f [f] | v [v] |
| Apicals | d [t] | t [tʰ] | nd [ɗ] | n [n] | sl [ɬ] | l [l] |
| Radicals | g [k] | k [kʰ] | ng [ŋ] | h [x] | hr [ɣ] | |
| Palatals | j [tɕ] | q [tɕʰ] | ny [ɲ] | x [ɕ] | y [j] | |
| Affricates | z [ts] | c [tsʰ] | s [s] | r [z] | ||
| Palatalized | by [pʲ] | my [mʲ] | qy [ˀj] | |||
| Labialized | gv [kʷ] | ngv [ŋʷ] | qv [ˀv] |
Pink: p, t, k, q, z, and c are used only to write Chinese loanwords.
Beige: sl and hr are used for sounds that occur only in certain dialects.
V is pronounced as a "w" before a "u".
Bouyei has 77 vowels and diphthongs.
| "Level" syllables | a [a] | o [o] | ee [e] | i [i] | u [u] | e [ɯ] | |||||
| aai [aːi] | ai [ai] | oi [oi] | ei [ɯi] | ||||||||
| aau [aːu] | au [au] | eeu [eu] | iu [iu] | ||||||||
| ae [aɯ] | ie [iə] | ue [uə] | ea [ɯə] | ||||||||
| aam [aːm] | am [am] | oom [om] | om [ɔm] | eem [em] | iam [iəm] | im [im] | uam [uəm] | um [um] | eam [ɯəm] | ||
| aan [aːn] | an [an] | oon [on] | on [ɔn] | een [en] | ian [iən] | in [in] | uan [uən] | un [un] | ean [ɯən] | en [ɯn] | |
| aang [aːŋ] | ang [aŋ] | oong [oŋ] | ong [ɔŋ] | eeng [eŋ] | iang [iəŋ] | ing [iŋ] | uang [uəŋ] | ung [uŋ] | eang [ɯəŋ] | eng [ɯŋ] | |
| "Entering" syllables | aab [aːp] | ab [ap] | oob [op] | ob [ɔp] | eeb [ep] | iab [iəp] | ib [ip] | uab [uəp] | ub [up] | eab [ɯəp] | |
| aad [aːt] | ad [at] | ood [ot] | od [ɔt] | eed [et] | iad [iət] | id [it] | uad [uət] | ud [ut] | ead [ɯət] | ed [ɯt] | |
| ag [ak] | og [ɔk] | eeg [ek] | ig [ik] | ug [uk] | eg [ɯk] |
The endings er [ɚ], ao [au], ou [əu], ia [ia], io [io], iao [iau], ua [ua], uai [uai], and ui [uəi] are used in writing Chinese loanwords.
Bouyei has eight tones, corresponding to the eight tones of Middle Chinese: six "level" tones with open or "n"/"ng" endings, and two "entering" tones with consonant finals.
| # | Name | Contour | Marking letter | Corresponding Southwest Mandarin Tone | Loanword Marking letter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dark level | 24 | l | Departing | q |
| 2 | Light level | 11 | z | ||
| 3 | Dark rising | 53 | c | Rising | j |
| 4 | Light rising | 31 | x | Light level | f |
| 5 | Dark departing | 35 | s | ||
| 6 | Light departing | 33 | h | Dark level | y |
| 7 | Dark entering | 35 | t | ||
| 8 | Light entering | 33 | none | ||
Marking letters are placed at the end of syllables to indicate tone.
Bouyei shows clearing of Proto-Tai–Kadai's "muddy" consonants (*b → /p/, *d → /t/, *ɡ → /k/), and loss of aspiration.
| Proto-Tai–Kadai | *ˀn, *n̥ | *t | *ˀd | *dʱ、*d | *n |
| Bouyei | n | t | ɗ | t | n |
| Dark tone | Light tone |
Proto-Tai–Kadai's tones experienced a splitting into modern Bouyei, shown in the following table.
| Proto-Tai–Kadai | *ˀn, *n̥ | *t | *ˀd | *dʱ, *d | *n |
| PTK Level tone | Dark level | Light level | |||
| PTK Rising tone | Dark rising | Light rising | |||
| PTK Departing tone | Dark departing | Light departing | |||
| PTK Entering tone | Dark entering | Light entering | |||
Ancient Bouyei writing was created by borrowing elements from Chinese characters or by mimicking their forms, and is similar to Sawndip.
In November 1956, a scientific conference was held in Guiyang to discuss the creation and implementation of a Latin-based script for Bouyei. The result was a script similar some Zhuang romanizations that used the Longli County dialect as its base. The script was approved by the Chinese government and was put into use in 1957, though its use ceased in 1960.
In 1981 a conference on Bouyei history revised the script developed in 1956 in an attempt to make it more practical and phonologically representative of Wangmo County speech. It also was approved by the Chinese government, and was adopted on an experimental basis in 1982. Feedback was largely positive, and the script was officially brought into use in March 1985 and continues to be used to the present.
Old and current Bouyei Romanization comparisons
| Old | Current | IPA | Old | Current | IPA | Old | Current | IPA | Old | Current | IPA | Old | Current | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | b | /p/ | ƃ | mb | /ɓ/ | m | m | /m/ | f | f | /f/ | v | v, qv | /v, ˀv/ |
| c | z | /ts/ | s | s | /s/ | r | r | /z/ | ||||||
| d | d | /t/ | ƌ | nd | /ɗ/ | n | n | /n/ | l | l | /l/ | |||
| g | g | /k/ | gv | gv | /kʷ/ | ŋ | ng | /ŋ/ | ŋv | ngv | /ŋʷ/ | h | h | /x/ |
| gy | j | /tɕ/ | ny | ny | /nʲ/ | x | x | /ɕ/ | y | y, qy | /j, ˀj/ | |||
| by | by | /pʲ/ | my | my | /mʲ/ | |||||||||
| Old | Zhuang | Bouyei | IPA | Old | Zhuang | Bouyei | IPA | Old | Zhuang | Bouyei | IPA | Old | Zhuang | Bouyei | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | a | aa | /aː/ | ə | ae | a | /a/ | e | e | ee | /e/ | i | i | i | /i/ |
| o | o | oo | /oː/ | ө | oe | o | /o/ | u | u | u | /u/ | ɯ | w | e | /ɯ/ |
Tone Marking Letters
| # | Old | Zhuang | Bouyei | Yangchang Dialect | Fuxing Dialect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | none | none | l, q | 35 | 24 |
| 2 | ƨ | z | z | 11 | 11 |
| 3 | з | j | c, j | 13 | 53 |
| 4 | ч | x | x, f | 31 | 11 |
| 5 | ƽ | q | s | 33 | 35 |
| 6 | ƅ | h | h, y | 53 | 33 |
| 7 | (p、t、k) | (p、t、k) | (b、d、g)t | 33 long), 35 (short) | 35 |
| 8 | (b、d、g) | (b、d、g) | (b、d、g) | 53 (long), 11 (short) | 33 |
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